By Mary Williams
Daily Bruin Staff
Attendees of the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on Saturday
and Sunday will have the chance to pick up a paintbrush, and
possibly help change the world.
Cartoonists Across America and the World will be bringing their
popular mural painting event to the festival, which strives to
promote reading as well as the arts. The mural will span eight by
25 feet, and special guests, as well as the public, will be invited
to participate in its decoration.
“We encourage anyone to come by and paint with us this
weekend. It’s a lot of fun,” said Phil Yeh, the founder
of Cartoonists Across America. “I’m kind of like Tom
Sawyer; my job is to trick everyone into doing this
mural.”
Yeh travels around the world working on murals, like the one for
the Festival of Books. He has done murals in 49 states and 12
countries, and his celebrity guests at the mural events have
included former first lady Barbara Bush and actor Alan Alda.
“I think the important thing is just getting people to be
more expressive, and that’s kind of what the murals are
about, so we invite everyone to come,” Yeh said.
This year’s guests will include Krystal, the 19-year-old
singer who is opening for the Backstreet Boys on their Black and
Blue tour, and Kevin Eastman, co-creator of the “Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
The variety of people who work on the murals is one draw for
special guest PJ Grimes, whose company PivotPointe assists creative
artists with their personal and business problems.
“When I got to participate in one of the mural events I
got to see firsthand how fun it is,” Grimes said.
“The neat thing about it is that it’s a real
multicultural experience. There’s all kinds of people of all
shapes, sizes and backgrounds, so it’s great,” she
continued. “The common thread is that paintbrush and a desire
to let people know how much the arts and reading are
important.”
Yeh’s son Jesse, who works as Vice President of
Cartoonists Across America, enjoys working with the children who
come to paint.
“I find it rewarding to see the kids at the events. They
have a lot of fun painting with us and getting the books. It really
makes them happy. And just knowing that I’m doing something
that is hopefully going to make a change is rewarding,” said
Jesse Yeh, who will be accompanying his father to the Festival of
Books event this weekend.
Cartoonists Across America and the World was established in 1985
after Yeh met Wally “Famous” Amos, who, aside from
creating Famous Amos cookies, worked as the national spokesperson
for Literacy Volunteers of America.
Amos recommended that Yeh, already a cartoonist, combine his
artistic talent with his passion for improving literacy across
America and the world.
Yeh believes that there is a connection between reading and the
arts, and that through promoting both he can raise awareness about
the problem of illiteracy, in addition to encouraging people of all
ages to be creative.
“If people are interested, or a student is interested in
the arts, there’s a really good chance that that person is
probably going to get into books some way or another,” Yeh
said. “If you want to be a painter, for instance, you might
read a book about Picasso. If you want to be a songwriter, you
might check out a book on a musician.”
Yeh finds that too few people are finding an interest in either
the arts or reading. When he started his organization in 1985, 27
million Americans could not read. Yeh added that a recent
report published in USA Today and Time magazine stated that 90
million Americans today are illiterate.
Furthermore, according to Yeh, the United Nations and U.S. News
and World Report ranked the United States as 70th in literacy in
the world in 2000. This is not a problem of literacy alone,
however, as Yeh sees a connection between functional illiteracy and
other social problems.
“It’s connected to the issue of school
violence,” he said. “I have contended from day one that
if we encourage more of the arts, we are actually giving students a
chance to express emotions or problems in another way, other than
taking a gun to school or threatening to blow someone
up.”
To encourage interest in both reading and the arts, Yeh produces
“Winged Tiger Comics and Stories,” a comic book series
that encourages children to be creative. Â Complimentary copies
of the comics will be handed out at the Festival of Books.
For those who are worried that they cannot paint or draw well,
Yeh offers a consolation.
“I see part of our mission is just reminding all
Americans, and all people, that everyone can be an artist,”
he said. “The worse your art looks, the higher chance of
a New York gallery or museum buying it for billions of
dollars.”
FESTIVAL: The mural will be located between the
John Wooden Center and Glorya Kaufman Hall. For more information
about Cartoonists Across America, go to www.ideaship.com or e-mail Phil Yeh at
[email protected].